Gordon Campbell, a towering figure in the world of Scottish and Breton piping, passed away peacefully on New Year’s Day, leaving behind a rich legacy of music, teaching, and cultural exchange.

Born in Leith in 1957 and raised in Hamilton, Gordon came from a long family line of Scottish bagpipers. Piping was in his blood, and he was to dedicate his whole life to its music and to helping hundreds of young people find their way within the artform. And all who met him will testify to the fact that everything he did was laced with humour, fun and cutting wit: when Gordon was around, the craic was mighty!

On graduating from the University of Aberdeen, Gordon worked briefly in Pitlochry and joined the local pipe band there. The Vale of Atholl, led by his friend and fellow Aberdeen graduate, Ian Duncan, was rising rapidly through the competition grades at the time. Gordon played a key role in helping the Vale establish itself as one of the top three bands in the world, becoming both Scottish and European champions in the mid-1980s.

And pipe bands remained one of his great passions thereafter: he served as pipe major of a number of bands through his career, including the Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt OTC, the 2/52 Lowland and 71 Royal Engineers TA Regiment, the Links of Forth, the City of Edinburgh Schools Pipe Band, and of course, the legendary Scottish Gas Caledonian Pipe band.

Following a spell in the Civil Service, Gordon decided to take the plunge into full-time teaching and so began many years of dedicated service to music education across Edinburgh and the surrounding area. At Fettes College in the early 1980s, at Glenalmond College, as Master of Piping and Drumming at Merchiston Castle School and lieutenant in the Combined Cadet Forces for over 30 years, Gordon established the reputation of now well-known schools’ and youth pipe bands.

He mentored countless students, many of whom have carried his teachings around the globe. His philosophy was simple yet highly effective: provide a thorough grounding in the basics, demand precision and discipline in their technique, encourage them to open their ears to many forms of traditional music, then once he felt they were ready, allow them to search for their own path. Even through his final illness, his passion for passing it all on remained undiminished: he was still teaching his chanter students at St. Mary’s School Melrose, in the Scottish Borders, just a month before his passing.

Early in his adult life, Gordon discovered the music, culture and people of Brittany – and they discovered him! He made many lifelong friends there amongst the key figures of Breton music, such as Erwan Ropars. That other Celtic nation not only became his second home but also his family, through his marriage with Aude and their three Breton-Scottish children.

Like Scotland, Brittany has a rich and proud piping heritage, including its own unique form of “pipe band”, the Bagad. The Breton approach to music is adventurous, energetic and fun-filled, rooted in the nation’s dance traditions, and Gordon fell in love with it immediately. He forged deep and lasting connections with many bagadou, including Guingamp, Quimper, St Malo and Auray, and mentored several renowned Breton musicians such as Ronan Le Bars.

Always keen to share his love of both cultures, he led his Scottish students on visits to the major Celtic gatherings in the likes of the Interceltic Festival in Lorient and the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper. Indeed, he was a proud ambassador for piping and traditional music of all kinds, and represented Scotland at events as far apart as Russia, Canada and Indonesia.

Gordon was also a composer of over a hundred pipe tunes, which are currently being catalogued by his friend and fellow piper, Allan MacDonald. A full publication would be a fitting tribute to his legacy, and would allow pipers the world over to hear and play his tunes, and to share in a little of his humour when perusing their titles – look out for “The Bee in the Knickers”!

Beyond music, Gordon was never short of an enthusiastically shared opinion on all manner of topics, politics chief among them. He loved to debate long into the night, arguing with his florid language and deep voice, quietly smoking his legendary pipe.

As a lifelong and passionate supporter of Scottish independence, he was deeply disappointed at the result of the referendum in 2014, yet optimistic about the future direction his nation might take in that regard.

And disappointment followed him in other ways, too – he was a lifelong supporter of Heart of Midlothian Football Club! His favourite team in Brittany, Guingamp, perhaps brought him a little more cheer!

Gordon Campbell made friends wherever he went, and his unrelenting commitment to teaching allowed hundreds of others to make his musical passion theirs too. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered as a rigorous teacher, a generous mentor, and a vibrant force in the piping world. Passed away too early, Gordon is survived by his Scottish and Breton families, by his wife, Aude, by his dear children, and of course by the many students and friends who will perpetuate his legacy by sharing his melodies, his life ethos and his jokes.

A memorial service and funeral will be held at the Borders Crematorium in Melrose on Friday, 24 January at 4pm, followed by a celebration of his life at the Royal British Legion in Galashiels. Instead of flowers, Gordon’s family suggests donations to the Margaret Kerr Unit (Scottish Borders), The Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, or Bodadeg ar Sonerion (Brittany, France).

The service will be live streamed and a downable link to the ceremony will be made available via A&A Doyle’s Funeral Director (Galashiels) Facebook page.